Big clean-up for West Coast farmers after storm


West Coast farmers have a major clean up on their hands, and some have been left with no milk pick ups after the wild storm that battered parts of the South Island.

Federated Farmers President, Katie Milne farms at Rotomanu east of Lake Brunner, and said many paddocks were left under water.

"The water has gone down in a lot of areas, and farmers are out there with diggers clearing tracks,"she said.

"The fence damage is going to take a lot of work and there is debris to be cleared from farms," said Ms Milne.

Early preparation for the bad weather has meant stock losses have been minimal.

"Because of early warnings most people were prepared, so could get stock to higher ground before the worst hit," she said.

Farmers are cleaning up after the big storm.
Farmers are cleaning up after the big storm. Photo credit: Katie Milne

Farmers are also facing disruption to milk pickups, with roads closures meaning meant milk tankers have been unable to make to some farms.

"While the roads are being cleared, in the meantime some farmers are having to deal with how much capacity there is in their vats and how much they can store," she said.

She said the timing of the storm was bad.

"The problem is that we are at peak milk production time, so it couldn't have come at a worse time," said Ms Milne.

The bad weather isn't doing farmers any favours as they clean up.

"Usually after a big hit, we get fine weather, however Lake Brunner is still filling up, and we have more rain," she said.

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